Augmented reality is the latest gimmick from movie studios intended to lure more customers toward packaged media.
Video Business picks up on the trend, which has seen studios adding 3D interactive features to its DVD and Blu-ray packages. Along with augmented reality, studios are also bringing BD-Live features to iPhone apps.
So far, the most interesting use of augmented reality amounts to a 3D interactive tour that combines the movie packaging and a computer Webcam. As the viewer moves the package in front of the camera, a hologram is read and translated on the computer screen as a 3D image, which moves and twists with the position of the box. The viewer can click on different things on the computer, and the 3D image changes accordingly.
You can see an example of augmented reality used for the Star Trek DVD on YouTube. The upcoming DVD for Night at the Museum 2 will have a similar interactive experience. Total Immersion, the company behind these features, told Video Business that it's working on a deal with retailers to offer some kind of augmented reality in stores.
Less exciting is Fox's approach to the movies Dollhouse and Miss March. By taking pictures of bar codes on the packaging, viewers can get access to exclusive video content. Fox hopes that these videos will convince people to purchase the discs.
Sadly, the Video Business story includes no sense of whether these features are actually working. To me, they seem like novelties rather than substantial additions that make or break a purchase. Furthermore, the information that's in these features could just as easily be delivered without holograms and bar code scanners; are consumers that interested in the extra "wow" factor that comes with augmented reality? Call me old-fashioned, but I think the best way to get people buying a DVD is to make the movie so good that it's worth watching more than once.
